The Apple Of My Soul
by RECREATIONAL
Summary: When a mentally disturbed young woman draws the attention of a powerful Hunter and Smoker, they both fight to compete for her affections. O.CxHunter&Smoker
1. Chapter 1

_**AN: While I brainstorm ways to make my other fics better, here goes a story I wrote involving a mentally disturbed teenage girl who has caught the eye of not only a powerful Hunter, but a Smoker as well. She is desperately trying to escape the quarantined Lioness City along with anyone else that might want to tag along. **_

_**This story takes place, like the first game, two weeks after the first infection.**_

_**Warning!**_

_**Though there weren't any animal or children infected in game, due to not wanting to cause controversy and such, I believe that if a disease of this magnitude really were to happen survivors would encounter some infected animals and they would definitely encounter infected children. I'm not trying to condone killing children or animals, it just makes sense that there would be infected in those groups. People see kids walking around on the streets as much as they see adults, it only makes sense…**_

_**And it adds to that creepy, sad factor. **_

_**It adds to the fact that humanity has been reduced to babbling, rabid, cannibalistic mutants. I will also be adding new types of infected into the mix, you know Infected that didn't make it into the game?**_

_**The Breeder, the Haggard, the Leaker, and the Siren (Female Screamer). I'm also adding the Pack, the Crawler, and the Lurker who are all zombies from Dead Space who use the bodies of children. Those zombie children will be consider 'Specials', and there will be regular common infected children. This is my first serious attempt at a fic outside of my usual category, which is Bioshock, so I hope this turns out well. I'm sorry if I offend anyone with the use of children and animal Infected, if you want to flame me go ahead and do it, but I will not stop writing this fic. **_

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><p><strong>Chapter I: Goth Girl <strong>

Life sucks.

It's a fact, and no one, therapist, my parents, whatever, is going to convince me otherwise. So why do they even try? I sat there, in my nice comfy Lay-Z-Boy recliner. My legs were propped up and my arms were crossed over my chest. I tried vainly to play with the ruby rock piercing, that I had just gotten through my nose, with my tongue. But I just couldn't get it. I always wished I had one of those freakishly long tongues that just freak people out. But sadly, like I said before, life sucks and you hardly get what you want. Not that I have a problem with that, I'm not spoiled rotten or anything (it still sucks though). I would have paid cash money to get my tongue elongated but NOOoooooo.

My mother would have a damn near heart attack if I got any part of my body enhanced. What am I saying, she would effing die! She can hardly tolerate me dying my hair black, wearing black lipstick, and getting my body pierced. Oh, and lets not mention my sexy tattoo of a cross branding my lower back.

"_Why would you do something like that, Solana? Why! Who was going to see it? Huh?" _

"Solana, did you hear me?"

I blinked my shadow rimmed eyes and decided to give my therapist my undivided attention.

"I'm sorry did you say something, Mr. Harvey? I was thinking about how effed up my life is."

Three, two, one and cue sigh! I have a knack for sucking the life out of every adult in a 20 foot radius, but I quickly reminded myself that I don't want to suck the life out of Mr. Harvey. Even though he was my therapist, he is one of the most understanding adults I have ever effing met. Hell, he is one of the most understanding people I've met period! He's been helping me for a couple of months now, helping me cope with-

"Solana-"

My cold, hazel eyes narrowed. "Don't call me that, you know I don't like it when you call me that."

Harvey chuckled lightly, his dark brown eyes squinting at the action.

"Okay…Sol. We've been beaten around the bush for awhile now. I think it's time you tell me something more than the bare essentials. I want to try and help you figure this out."

"My father murdered my two year old brother, what's more to figure out?"

"Sol, you knew that your father wasn't well, right? You knew what he was afflicted with."

Porcelain fleshed lids closed over unforgiving hazel eyes. Yeah, I knew what my father was afflicted with. Dementia, psychosis, schizophrenia…it was only a matter of time before he completely cracked. But did he have to murder someone so brutally? Did he have to murder his own flesh and blood…

With his bear effing hands?

I felt Mr. Harvey place a chocolate skinned hand on my shoulder, and couldn't help but smile slightly.

Keyword, slightly. The smile might have came off looking like a grimace, since Harv recoiled his hand hastily and settled in his seat on the left side of the recliner. I sighed and propped myself up on my elbows, letting my raven dyed bangs fall over my still sealed lids.

"I…I remember the time before the killing, Harv." Mr. Harvey never minded when I called him Harv, he was cool like that. "We were one big happy family." I put emphasis on this by hugging myself cheesily…, even though the statement was in fact true. "We played in our backyard playground, swam in our pool, watched movies together…we were happy."

"And you were happy?"

I whipped my head around, staring into Harv's dark brown eyes.

"Yeah…I was happy. But then dad had to go and eff up. He took a job handed to him by the krauts and jerks at BWRB. He knew they were messing with something dangerous, something more than questionable… I think he was exposed to some sort of chemical… Come to think of it, he looked just like-"

Harvey messaged his forehead and sighed. "Sol, don't."

My eye lids squinted into a glare. "Harv, you've seen the pictures. He looked just like one of those Green Flu victims. Hell, we have the highest concentration of victims in this damn city!"

"Sol, that was a year ago, the Green Flu wasn't even a diagnosis at that time."

"Yeah, I know, but what if BWRB was experimenting with a strange type of disease? A virus? What if they were keeping it contained and some effing retard came along and accidentally released it, infecting my dad and a number of other people? Harv, there were guys in hazmat suits along with the cops and even the effing _army_ at my house that day. Why would they need guys with AK47s and M16s to come to my house to clear up a murder case? Don't you think that's a little overkill?"

Harv was actually contemplating my theory.

"It makes sense…but I still think your little conspiracy theory is a little…"

I raised a raven colored eyebrow. "Paranoia induced?"

Harv chuckled lightly. "No, we've already concluded that you're not suffering from any sort of psychological illness, but you do harbor a great hatred towards BWRB-"

"Yeah, that's because their effing experiments destroyed my effing father and caused the death of my brother. Beaten to death by your own father? He didn't deserve that, Harv, no one really deserves that."

Harv's face hardened at my words and he nodded his head solemnly. "You're right."

An irritating beeping noise, that I recognized as Harv's eight-thirty alarm, sounded throughout the room. I sighed and got up from the Lay-Z-Boy recliner.

God, I love that chair.

"Well, Sol, I'll see you same time on Thursday?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, Doc, seven o' clock sharp. I mean, I've only been coming here for like six effing months."

Harv chuckled and brought me into a quick hug then ruffled my hair up a bit. He laughed as I glared at him through my bangs.

"You should be honored." I hissed dangerously. "You are the only adult that will ever get away with that. Ever."

Harv laughed and waved me off. "You better get going, your mother will get worried if your late again."

"Harv, I'm starting to wish my mother didn't give a shit about me. She's so effing annoying!"

Harv smiled knowingly. "That's what parents do, they annoy you and pry into your business. They look out for your safety."

Even though I wanted to plug my ears in and deny all that he was saying, I knew that Harv was right. I loved my mother…its just that she was so annoying. Damn her and not letting me get my tongue elongated!

"You would know, with lil Harv and all." I whispered. "Okay, whatev. See ya Harv." I gave him a wave over my shoulder as I stalked out of his office with my hands shoved into the pockets of my skinny jeans. When I made it outside, I couldn't help but shiver.

God, I love that breeze!

Well…that was Lioness for ya. One of the biggest effing cities in the U.S, and it also has the most stable climate. For that reason alone I would have considered moving here, but the main reason my family and I moved here in the first place was so that my father could take on a position working at effing BWRB. The Bio Weapons Research Branch of the military. Little is known about them, but I do know that their little project completely fractured my father's mind. This Green Flu shit that's been going around HAS to be their fault. The people infected with the virus are suddenly diagnosed with a crap load of mental illnesses.

Just like my father.

I grabbed at my onyx died hair and screamed out. "I can't take this effing shit no more!" Thoroughly scaring the shit out of two passer bys. I didn't give a crap what they thought of me, I had to ruin BWRB just like they ruined my life. No one could prove that my father's sudden insanity was a direct result of BWRB's actions and no one is ever going to take my word for it.

Well…maybe CEDA would listen to me, but I don't think I want to work for guys that claim that they are helping the public but are really lying to them. Wash your hands? Plastic wrap your entire house? What the hell is that gonna do? We're dealing with a highly contagious pathogen that destroys the mind and probably mutates the body in some way, not the common flu!

As a matter of fact, the name Green Flu is effing retarded.

As my feet robotically guided me towards my house, I seriously began to contemplate a way to freaken ruin BWRB. Their main headquarters is situated here, in Lioness City, and as I said before Lioness City had the largest concentration of Green Flu victims.

"Flu? Hah, hah, flu my ass." I whispered as I sauntered up the driveway to my house. It was nearly pitch black dark, and I didn't feel like dealing with my mother's mouth. But…

My eyes shifted upwards, regarding my little sister's window lazily. I really didn't care if my mother was worried about me, she was worried every single day so it kind of lost it's effect. However, I did care if my ten year old sister was worried. After what happened to my brother…

I shook my head in an attempt to rid myself of those thoughts and got ready for the task at hand. Climbing up the fence separating the front yard from the back, I balanced myself along it and effortlessly walked along the wooden structure. I carefully pulled myself onto the roof and made my way towards my Sister's window. I was wearing a pair of black sneakers, so I didn't make much noise.

I had a LOT of practice, plus when training in martial arts you kinda have to be light on your feet.

Yup, you're looking at a Kung-Fu master in training. I have already received a black-belt in another martial arts form, Tang-Soo-Do, which had taken me damn near five years. I don't know why martial arts has always interested me. Maybe it's violence? Or maybe it's power? Knowing that I could snap a grown man's neck with a flick of my wrists did give me a feeling of power. Oh well, all I know is that after I get my black-belt in Kung-Fu, I'm movin on to Judo.

I peered into my sister's window with slit hazel eyes, watching as she gazed at a photo of our fractured family longingly. She sat at the edge of her bed, her golden blonde hair flowing freely down her shoulders. I have to admit, she did look cute in her pink, polka dot pajamas. I tapped on the window lightly, drawing the attention of her brilliant blue eyes. Her face lit up in a beaming smile as she rushed to the window, unlocking it with haste.

"Sol, Sol! Where have you been?" She whispered frantically while putting me in a crushing bear hug.

"Wow, wow, Courtney ! Can I step inside the room, please?"

Courtney puffed out her cheeks and gave me a playful glare. I grinned as I hopped into her room and scooped her up into my arms. She suppressed a squeal of joy as I plopped her onto her bed, tickling her under her arms. She laughed softly and tried to do the same to me. I smirked when she realized that I wasn't going to start giggling anytime soon.

"How do you do that, sis?"

"Never was ticklish, never will be."

Courtney puckered her lips into a cute little pout. "That's not natural."

I smirked deviously at her. "Who said I was natural? Now, enough play time. You know that mama will be mad at you if she finds that you're not in the bed. It's almost nine o' clock."

Courtney sighed knowingly before quickly getting under her pink flora printed comforter. I tucked her in and kissed her on the forehead.

"Sis…do you remember what you use to tell me? You know about the…, the monsters?"

My cold burnished eyes stared into her brilliant sapphire ones for the longest time. I smiled and nodded my head. "Yeah, Court, I remember."

She looked up at me with that innocent, big eyed look that all kids her age have. "You said that you'd scare them all away for me…"

"Because nothing is scarier than your big sis… Yep, that's what I said. What are you trying to tell me, squirt?"

Courtney chewed at her lower lip nervously, and averted her gaze from mine.

"Well…this boy, at my school-"

"Oh, here we go."

"Shut-up! It's not like that! Anyway, he says that there's a monster going around town, snatching people up."

"Trying to rape them, so ya better hide your kids, hide your wife,…and hide your husband cause their raping everybody out here!"

"Solana, this is serious!"

I sighed, already knowing where this was going. "Alright fine! Let me guess, you want me to chase away this monster for ya?"

Courtney nodded hastily. "Yes please. It lives in that cave we found in the Golden Lioness Park."

"Wait, what?…Fine, I'll-" I stopped mid sentence and swiftly turned to face the entrance to Courtney's bedroom. Low and behold, there was mother. She stood there, the light from the hall silhouetting her thin, seemingly malnourished form. She's been obsessed with losing weight for God knows how long. I mean, who effing cares?

'_Alright Sol, don't let yourself slip into a rant.'_

"Hello, _mother_."

No answer. I raised an eyebrow at this. I would have thought for sure that, that would have gotten a rise out of her.

"Sol, please, not now." Courtney whispered.

I wasn't really paying attention though.

"I'm sorry I'm late, I just wanted to walk home at my own pace. I hope you don't mind me taking the express elevator up here." Of course it did. It scared the effing shit out of her every single time I did take the roof instead of the front door.

But again, she did not answer my sarcastic tone with yelling and screaming. She did however take a step forward. I then noticed something strange. It might have been a trick of the light, but it seemed like her eyes were glowing slightly. Like how light reflected from a cat's or a dog's irises. Now that I can see her a little bit more clearly, her blonde hair did seem a little washed out… Hell, who am I kidding? It was pure white, sweat soaked, and lank. Her cheeks were…sunken in, exposing the bones underneath. Her flesh was so pale that I could clearly see the velvet veins underneath the thin layer. And the smell…oh God, she smelt like a freaking corpse.

But I wasn't gonna tell her that.

My brows furrowed in worry. "Mom…are you okay?" I asked, standing up and walking towards her. Me and mother might not get along well, but she was still my mother. She was obviously sick…

'_Oh eff. Please don't tell me she caught the mother effing Green-'_

My mom launched herself at me like a bullet. She hissed like a cat as she scrambled towards me. My God, she was fast, I've never seen my mom…or any normal person for that matter, move with such speed. She hit me square in the chest like I train wreck, driving us both across Courtney's room so hard that my back crunched against the rear wall. I hit my head and stars burst in my eyes. Thinking quickly, I jammed my forearm under mother's chin as she snapped at me like a wild animal, lunging forward over my arm, her teeth banging together with a weird porcelain clack. She grabbed the collar of my black leather jacket with both hands, trying to pull us closer together.

Everything had nearly stopped in my eyes. Everything was drowned out, even Courtney's screaming. I just stared into my mother's eyes. Her empty, milky white eyes. I tried looking for any type of emotion, hatred, loathing, something…

I found nothing.

Though her face was twisted into an animalistic snarl, though her teeth were biting the air mere inches away from my windpipe, that empty stare was what terrified me the most. This wasn't the stare of a predator, this wasn't the stare of a murderer, this was an empty lifeless stare.

It was like looking into the eyes of a someone who was dead. I saw death and terror and hopelessness. At that moment I to found myself screaming along with Courtney.

For I wasn't looking into the eyes of my mother. I was looking in the eyes of a cold blooded monster.

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><p><em><strong>AN: Ah, Solana encounters her first Infected…and it turns out to be her mother! I'm sorry if this chapter was kind of slow and I hope I described the look of a Common Infected well enough. <strong>_

_**Will Solana and Courtney escape their mother's jaws?**_

_**Who is this monster living in the Golden Lioness Park?**_

_**Is BWRB really responsible for the Infection known only as the Green Flu?**_

_**Why am I asking you all of these questions? **_

_**Read the next chapter, and find out!…**_

_**Except for that last question, you can just cross that one out. **_


	2. Chapter 2

_**AN: I didn't really expect to get reviews for this story so quickly! Since people seem to like it, I decided to get the next chapter up as quick as possible! Oh and thank you everyone for the reviews! I know I'm not suppose to worry about them but they really are the reason I keep writing my fics. They inspire me to continue on with my stories! Oh and Rockubyebaby, I did get Sol's line in the last chapter, the one about that guy climbing in people's window and snatching them up, from that guy on You Tube. I can't remember his name… Oh well, here is the next chapter!**_

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><p><strong>Chapter II: Vassalation<strong>

Mother lunged over my forearm with a desperate fever, seeking to end my life with a crushing bite to the jugular. How could this have happened? Why did it happen? What happened to my mother? What the hell is wrong with my mom!

I kept screaming along with Courtney as I scrambled to push her off of me, but she lunged forward again. Her fingers were now ripping into the shirt underneath my jacket, her pungent odor threatening to overtake my senses. I was kind of joking before, but I was right…

She smelled like a decomposing corpse. She smelled like death. She had the look of a pale, freshly made corpse. These thoughts shot through my brain in a mere microsecond, it's clarity heighten by adrenaline and fear. Fear is a primal feeling, it drives us to act out on our most primal of instincts.

And that's what I did, I let my instincts take control. I stopped trying to push mother away, stopped trying to get away from jaws I couldn't escape, and went on the offensive. I stopped my screaming abruptly and let my mind go blank, I forced myself to feel nothing. I couldn't let myself feel, I couldn't afford it. I swung my left hand around in a palm shot that turned my mother's head so hard, that I heard her neck bones grind. The blow would have stopped damn near anyone dead, but I could see that she was recovering quickly. Just as she snapped her head back towards me, I had hooked my right leg around her own. I pushed her with all my might while simultaneously tripping her leg from underneath her.

She tumbled to the ground in a heap while I shot off towards my cowering little sister, scooping her up in my arms, and dashing towards the stairs. I had made damn sure that I slammed the door behind me.

"Mommy, mommy, mommy…" I could hear Courtney whisper, tears still streaming down her face. Even under the sound of my sneakers pounding against the wooden steps, I could hear my mother banging on Courtney's door with her small fists.

And the door was actually effing giving way.

I quickly laid Courtney on the couch and dove a hand in my pocket, searching for my cell.

_Bang, Bang, Bang!_

The door wasn't going to hold for long, and at that thought I found myself wondering how my mom got so strong. Last time I checked, sick people were suppose to be sluggish and weak, not as fast as a track star and as strong as a freaken body builder!

I fished out my cell and quickly dialed 911, putting the phone to my ear and praying for some kind of official to pick up. The phone rang, and rang, and rang.

_Bang, Bang, __**BANG!**_

She had to have punched a hole through the door with that last one, I prayed to God that someone would pick up.

_Ring, Ring, Ring._

_Bang, Bang, __**BANG!**_

There goes another piece of the door. The echoes of the phone ringing in one ear and the sound of my mother bashing the door to pieces in the other was bound to make me go crazy. Finally after what seemed like an eternity, someone picked up.

"_This is the Lioness City Police Department."_

"Thank God!" I cried out. "Please, bring cops and an ambulance! There's something wrong with my-"

"_We are sorry but there are no officials available to take your call at this time, pleas_e _remain calm and we will be with you shortly."_

I couldn't believe it. It was an effing voice mailbox. What kind of effing Police Department doesn't have someone on standby at all times! A freaking voice mailbox? Seriously?

"You can't be effing serious! DAMN IT!" In my rage I threw the cell across the room. The piece of plastic skimmed over wooden floors and smacked against the wall. My eyes were narrowed into chestnut slits and my black stained lips were pulled back into a snarl. What the hell was I gonna-

"SOLANA!" Courtney cried out in a horrifying scream. I wrenched my head in her direction just in time to catch a fist to the face. My head snapped back with the force of the blow, and I was sent sprawling to the ground. The horrific creature that was once my mother stood over me, her lips curled into a permanent scowl and her eyes a dead, empty white. She threw herself on top of me, her jaws once again snapping to get a hold of my jugular. I once again shoved my forearm under her chin, preventing her from ripping out my throat. I placed my right foot on her chest and kicked off with every ounce of strength I had. As she went flying backwards, I scrambled to my feet, pulling myself up with the help of the arm chair.

By the time I was standing she was already up and running straight at me. She shot out a fist which I side stepped while simultaneously blocking at the wrist. I placed my left palm over my right fist and brought my right elbow into a smashing arch, snapping her head back. I grabbed her head with both my hands and forcefully jerked it downward while I brought my right knee upwards, smashing her face in yet again. She fell to the ground while I dashed towards Courtney, but she dug her fingers into my left leg while I was passing over her, stopping my dash abruptly. I toppled to the ground, but I scrambled to get a hold of some kind of weapon, anything to beat her back. I looked to the living room walls and spotted one of my most prized possessions.

My katana.

It was a gift from my Tang-Soo-Do Instructor when I had completed the art of the sword. I have learned a few moves from my Kung-Fu Instructor as well, but I haven't mastered the Kung-Fu sword arts yet. Mother was once again trying to scramble on top of me, her face a bloody mess and her lips curled into an animalistic snarl.

Didn't she feel that? I had to have broken her effing noise, yet she ignores the pain and continues to try to kill me. I once again kicked mother off of me and hastily pushed myself up on my feet. I yanked the katana off it's rack and unsheathed it in one fluid motion. My mother sprinted towards me in an animalistic rage, her dead eyes boring into my own that were now overflowing with tears. I forced myself to look her straight in the eye, clutching my tiger engraved katana with both hands.

"Mom," I whispered. "I'm so sorry."

In one fell swing, I decapitated her. Her head…, her effing head went flying from her mother effing shoulders. It rolled on the ground slightly, it's expression frozen in a look of undying rage. Blood spurted from her neck, covering half my face.

Courtney screamed a horrifying scream of terror as the body fell limp to the floor, and I just stood there, eyes wide in shock and horror. My hands shook spastically along with the rest of my body. I slackened the grip on my now blood stained weapon, allowing it to clatter to the ground uselessly.

I just murdered my own mother.

"Oh God."

I dropped to my hands and knees, and vomited my guts out on the effing blood stained floors. I just murdered my effing mother…

I'm no better than my father.

No, I'm worse than my father. My father had an excuse, he was infected with a pathogen that turned it's victims homicidal. I wasn't, I had a choice, I had an effing choice. I let the tears fall freely from my eyes, let my body succumb to the wracking of unbearable sobs.

'_I killed her. I killed her. I killed her. I killed her. I killed her. I'm a monster, a murderer.'_

I was on my hands and knees, crying my eyes out for the longest time. I just couldn't believe it, I had just murdered my mother. Solana Light…murdered of Catherine Light, her mother.

I think I was about to be sick all over again.

_Ring, Ring, Ring!_

I wiped the tears from my eyes and focused on the vibrating, ringing piece of plastic across the room. It took me a second to realize that, that might be the Police Department returning my call. I scrambled over to the phone, pressed accept, and pushed it to my ear.

"Hello, hello! Is anyone there?"

I could still hear Courtney sobbing in my other ear. God, she was gonna be scarred for life. Not only did she lose her father and her brother, but her mother as well. It made it worse that all the murderers were members of her family. Dear God, I hoped she'd forgive me.

"_This is a national emergency." _The recording began. _"Victims of the Green Flu virus have turned unnaturally aggressive. They behave like a person infected with an advanced form of rabies, and will try to bite non-infected individuals in an attempt to spread the virus." _So that's why she was trying to bite me. "_Citizens are urged to report all unusual behavior, barricade your homes, and avoid contact with all infected individuals. Wait for official instructions listed by CEDA, then proceed to the nearest safe zone." _

I clicked the phone off right then and there, and shoved it into my pocket.

"Wait my ass."

I collected my katana off the ground shakily, cleaning it with my shirt and sheathing it. I tied it to my waist with the sheath's strap and made may way towards Courtney. I expected her to scream out at me in outrage. I expected her to curse my name. I expected her to hate me with every fiber of her being for killing the only other parent she had left.

But she didn't do that. She didn't curse or scream or damn my name. She embraced me in a crushing hug, her small arms wrapped tightly around my waist.

"Sol, Sol, Sol, I…I'm so sorry."

I gave Courtney a bewildered look.

"Court, what are you sorry for? I'm the one that…"

I'm the one that killed our mother.

"Sol…I-I think this is my fault."

I stared at her with wide hazel eyes. "Courtney, what in the world are you talking about?"

Courtney looked up at me with sad, navy blue eyes. "I… Today, at school…one of the girls in my class was sick. She said it was just a cold though. She accidentally coughed on me but I didn't think anything of it. Sol…I think she had the Green Flu. Mommy got sick because of me, it's all my fault!"

I hugged Courtney close and hushed her. I rubbed the side of her face gently and showered her with kisses. That always seemed to calm her down. But there was one thing that was bothering me. If Courtney was coughed on by a girl who was infected with the Green Flu, how come Courtney didn't turn homicidally insane? Maybe there are people who are immune to the virus, like by how some miracle I'm immune to the common flu. Whenever my sister was sick in bed with the flu, no matter how many times she coughed on me I never contracted the virus. Even when I kissed her on the cheek good night, I never got so much as a raised temperature.

"Courtney," I whispered into her ear. "I want you to hurry upstairs and get dressed, we can't stay here. Something is happening. I want you to pack light, take only the essentials."

Courtney sniffled but nodded shakily. As she scurried up the stairs, I made my way into the kitchen and began to stack cans of food and bottles of water on the counter. I stacked enough food and water to last us about a week. Hopefully that would hold us out until we found somewhere safe and stocked up again. Ignoring my mother's headless corpse, I retreated to my own bedroom.

Which happened to be the basement. I had collected an assortment posters of bands that I like. Three Days Grace, Midnight Riders, and Egypt Central are three of my favorite bands. I grabbed my backpack and spilled it's contents over my bed.

I don't think I'll be going back to school anytime soon.

I changed out of my ripped, blood stained shirt and put on a black T-shirt with a depiction of angel wings and a skull on the front. I switched my skinny navy blue jeans for a pair of ripped ones, put on my black leather jacket and slipped into my black sneakers. I grabbed my I Pod on my way out of the door and shoved it into my pocket. When I reached the kitchen, Courtney was already there, packed and ready. She was wearing a pink shirt with a depiction of a cat on the front, navy blue jeans and white sneakers. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail and she had her backpack, which was probably loaded with clothes and such, slung over her shoulder.

I quickly loaded my bag with the food stuffs and grabbed Courtney's hand gently.

We left that house. A house that will forever be a symbol of our pain and misery. We left our mother's corpse there to rot. There was no time to give her a proper burial.

Besides, our survival would be more important to her than a burial of a body that was no longer hers anymore. Whatever that _thing_ back there was, zombie, vampire, whatever it was, it wasn't my mother. My mom was a caring, heartfelt person. She was annoying and whiny but she was loving and generous. That _thing_ wasn't my mother, it was the effing virus taking hold of her mind and hijacking her body. It was the virus using her body as a means to an end, using her to spread it's corruption.

That virus killed my mother and took hold of her body. Nothing more, and nothing less.

Just as we walked out the front door, the whirling blades of a helicopter met our ears. I'd never thought I'd be so happy to see a police vehicle. The helicopter shined it's light all around the area, the pilot bellowing from the speaker:

"Proceed to the Golden Lioness Park for evacuation! I repeat, proceed to the Golden Lioness Park for evacuation!"

Courtney latched herself to my leg and whimpered. "Sis, t-that's w-where the m-monster lives…"

I sighed tiredly and put an arm around her. "Don't worry, Court, I won't let the monster get you, I promise. Now, get in the car, we're driving ourselves out of here." I dug into my pocket and produced a set of car keys, grinning from ear to ear as I did so.

Courtney gave me a bewildered look. "You know how to drive?" She asked softly.

"Of course I do!" I said proudly.

Courtney just gave me a blank stare. I sighed dejectedly.

"Well…I got my driver's permit… That's close enough! We're in a crisis!"

Courtney nodded. "Agreed."

Courtney jumped in the backseat and buckled her seatbelt while I jumped in the drivers seat, throwing my katana in the passenger side. I buckled myself in, and started the car. I backed out of the driveway and took off towards the Golden Lioness Park.

I glanced at Courtney through the mirror. "There might be a traffic jam when we get close to the Park Courtney, so be ready incase we have to start hoofing it."

Courtney nodded her head, and I continued to drive in silence. I was really on edge. There were no people around, the streets were dead silent. I was expecting a bunch of effing people trying to escape the city….

This was weird.

My eyes locked onto the sight of a crowd of people just a couple of blocks up. I could hear their yells and screams and howls. They seemed to be…surrounding…someone? Suddenly, a figure broke away from the group. It was a man, struggling to push off…some little thing that had latched itself onto his back. It was pulling at his arms, forcing him to go in which ever direction it pleased. The crowd was beating at the man as the little thing…_rode_ him.

I blinked once, blinked twice, blinked trice.

"What the effing shit is-"

My voice died in my throat when the wicked little thing forced the man right in front of my car, jumping to safety as I splattered the man all over the pavement. Blood splashed against the window, causing Courtney to scream. My eyes were wide as I continued to drive on, the wicked little thing's maniacal laughter forever burning itself into my brain.

"What the effing shit _was_ that…"

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><p><em><strong>AN: Another infected encountered! Well…it was more of a cameo appearance. The next chapter takes us to the Golden Lioness Park, where Solana will encounter Bachelor Number 1! <strong>_


	3. Chapter 3

_**AN: Thanks again for all the reviews! Like I said before, as long as I get some kind of feed back, I will continue to update as quickly as possible. Rockubyebaby suggested a good idea. If reviewers have any ideas pertaining to a O.C or even new species of Infected, and would like to see them appear in the story, I would be honored to use them. Of course all credit would go to the creator of that O.C or Infected, and I'd be sure to mention that in EVERY single freaken author's note I make. But there are two limitations…and one other thing that I forgot to mention. **_

_**Number one, all human must have believable skills and personalities.**_

_**Number two, O.C Infected cannot be more powerful than the Tank. I'm trying to keep with the Left 4 Dead mythos in that the Tank is the biggest and STRONGEST of the Infected. As such, no other Infected can surpass him in terms of endurance or raw strength. **_

_**Number three, any of you that are fans of Dead Rising, REJOICE for there will be other survivors that Sol can have the choice to save or leave to die AND there will be psychopaths. **_

_**If you guys have any ideas, run them by me in a review! Now, on with the story!**_

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><p><strong>Chapter III: Pray For Death<strong>

The blood spatter was washed away by the van's cleaning system. The red was sprinkled with water and swept aside by windshield wipers. My eyes were still wide with shock, and my grip on the steering wheel had tightened to the point that my knuckles had become bone white. I sucked in a breath and continued to drive out of the neighborhood, all the while thinking what the effing hell was that little creeper? And what was with that crowd? Were they all Infected? Was that…_thing_ an Infected too? Was that thing once a person?

Were there…more like it?

All these questions swirled around my brain like an effing tornado, but I guess they'll be answered in time.

"Sol," Courtney began. "what was that?"

I sighed tiredly. "Courtney, everything's gonna be alright, okay?"

"What was that?"

"Courtney-"

"WHAT WAS THAT!" She yelled hysterically. "What was that, what was that, what was that!"

Oh God, she's lost it. Well…I thought she'd lose it a lot sooner than this, truthfully. All this shit must have finally gotten to her. She had just watched her mother get cut down by her own sister, and then witnessed another effing murder some odd minutes later. I would effing hate to see what was going in her mind right now, God it must be scrambled.

I pulled over on the side of the road, hopped out of the van, and helped Courtney out. I hugged her close. The pain, the grief, she let it all out, and I comforted her as best I could.

"S-Sol, w-what a-are we gonna d-do?" She hiccupped. "Everyone's d-dead. M-mom a-and d-dad a-and T-T-Timmy a-are gone! Everyone's DEAD!" I rubbed the side of her face gently and hushed her, kissing her lightly on the forehead. What the effing hell _were_ we gonna do? Courtney was right, our family was broken, gone. We only had each other left.

"Wait…Courtney, do you remember last year, that trip we took to see our relatives in Tacitus Hill?"

Courtney nodded her head, tears still streaming.

"Well," I said, running my black painted nails through her golden locks. "I guess that's where we'll head off to once we get out of here."

"Sol…w-what if t-their…"

I hushed her. "We'll be okay, Courtney. You have to stop being such a downer, you have to have _some _hope, some faith."

Courtney gave me a genuine smile but then laughed as we hopped back into the van. "A Goth? Having faith? That's kind of weird."

I rolled my eyes, buckled myself in and started the van. To tell ya the truth, Goth for me is mostly an effing fashion statement. I like dark colors, leather, and effing skulls and shit…but I'm not really, REALLY into it. I consider myself…a half Goth, I do my own thing, I don't follow anybody. I'm my own effing person.

No one is ever gonna tell me how to effing act or dress. Eff being 'lady like' eff acting like a whore. I always hated it when my friends told me I'd look good in skimpy skirts and other shit like that. Did I look good, really? Or did I look good in the eyes of the men who were undressing me with their effing eyes? Oh, make no mistake, if a guy came up to me and said I looked pretty, I'd be freaken ecstatic. But if I was wearing a trashy outfit, I would know that it was for all the wrong reasons. Pft, men…their all the same!

…But we can't live without them!

As we drove up Jefferson Street, my eyes swiveled in my sockets, searching for any signs of human life.

There was none. The freaken town was totally effing empty.

The streets were lit but desolate. It was like everyone in the town was abducted by aliens or some weird shit like that. I wondered about my friends and Mr. Harvey, I hoped to God they were alright and heading straight for the Golden Lioness Park like we were. Just as I thought we'd make it there with time to spare, we ran into a little…problem. As we turned onto Ebright Road, my eyes bugged out and I slammed on the brakes, causing the van to jerk and Courtney to EEP.

The road was swallowed up by a see of cars that stretched for miles, and I was mere inches from hitting a sedan. But the weird thing was that all the cars were abandoned, like everyone suddenly yelled 'I'm Out!' and left.

What the hell happened here?

I sighed tiredly, banging a fist against the steering wheel. This was effing perfect. Why? Why does the universe keep punishing ME!

"Well, Courtney, the bad news is that we're hoofing it." I turned in my seat to face her, grinning. "The good news is, is that I know a shortcut to the Golden Lioness Park that we can take on foot! All we have to do is-"

"Oh here we go, you and your ridiculous shortcuts!" Courtney glared at me, frowning. "Last time you lead me through a shortcut, I almost died."

"I hardly consider falling into a pond a near death experience."

"I can't swim!"

"It was up to my knees!"

"Which is nearly over my freaken head!"

"Exaggeration much?"

Courtney snorted, crossed her arms, and turned her nose up. Ah hell, when she gets like this there's nearly nothing on this earth that can get her to see another's point of view. It would take us hours to wade through this effing ocean of cars. BUT, if we took the warehouse that was only a couple of yards from here, we could walk through it unhindered, and end up INSIDE the Golden Lioness Park without a hassle!

That sounds like a hell of a shortcut to me!

But how would I get her to see that?

I rubbed my chinned and 'hmmed' softly. Maybe I should scare the shit out of her? Tell her a little white lie to get her butt moving? She was a sucker for scary stories and stuff but considering the situation, I didn't want to traumatize her anymore than she already was.

_Thump, Thump, Thump._

'_How am I gonna get Courtney out of this car.' _I thought.

_Thump, Thump, Thump, Thump._

'_We have to get to the Golden Lioness Park as quickly as effing possible or those assholes will leave us.'_

_Thump, Thump, Thump, Thump, Thump._

'_Why must Courtney always-wait, what the hell is that effing-'_

_**Thump, Thump, Thump, Thump, Thump, Thump!**_

By the time I noticed the noise it was already to late. The left side of the car caved in and the entire thing was flipped onto it's side. Courtney and I screamed at the top of our lungs as our bodies were jerked around and showered in a hail of broken glass. My head crunched against the door, sparks bursting into my vision. I heard a warped, gargled barking growl like noise that kinda reminded me of a boar or some other wild animal like that. Though I was dazed, I ripped my seat belt off and snatched up my katana. I gazed upwards as _something_ began to pry the up side of the car open. I could see huge sausage like fingers dig into steel and with a stressed groan, the _entire_ passenger side door was thrown aside like trash.

We both screamed out at the towering figure that loomed over the car.

It's body was completely hairless, and a deep shade of fungus puss green. It wore the tattered remains of a football uniform, though now the right side of it was torn to shreds due to the effing HUGE ASS ARM. It's left arm, which was wrapped in bandages, however was squiggly and pathetic looking (though I wasn't gonna say that to it's face). Which brings up said topic. It's head was severely damaged, literally dented, and the skin of the right side of it's face was torn away, exposing the freaken decaying skull underneath. It stared right dead at me with it's beady, yellow eyes. The thing threw it's head back and let out a trumpeting call that sounded like an effing bull. As it reared back it's massive right fist, I took that as my cue to dive for the back seat. It smashed the whole front of the van to a metallic pulp, but let out a garbled bark when it realized it missed. I shrugged Courtney's seat belt off of her, grabbed our bags and hopped in the trunk of the van with her in my arms just as the huge, fungus green fist pummeled the back seat into oblivion. I threw the doors of the trunk open and dashed for the road's side railing while carrying both Courtney, my katana, and the bags.

Big, green and ugly must have noticed our escape if the trumpeting yell was any indication. I hopped the railing and skid down the dirt hill on the other side with gritted teeth.

It was a lot easier when I wasn't carrying an extra two hundred pounds.

"Put me down, Sol! You now I ran track last year!" Court yelled out, as we came to the bottom. In one fluid motion, I let Court down, straightened out the bag slung over my shoulders, and drew my katana.

"Keep running Court!" I could hear the green bull's heavy footsteps a couple of yards behind us.

My eyes caught my sister's, who was indeed keeping up with me...barely. "Courtney, the warehouse is up ahead through this forest area! We can probably lose him in there!"

We dodged and zigzagged through trees in an effort to confuse him but the thing just wouldn't give up. It was like it was specifically programmed to pound us to an effing pulp. It dodged around the trees, and the trees it didn't dodge it knocked over with it's massive calloused right arm.

We had to effing dive out of their paths on more than one occasion. He even chucked dead logs at us!

The warehouse was up ahead, it's thick rust iron doors a gift sent from heaven. Not even the effing bull would be able to barrel through that!

_**Thump, Thump, Thump, Thump!**_

I hastily shoved Courtney to the left and vaulted to the right. God the thing was fast. Faster than my Infected mother times ten! But that meant that he couldn't change direction while in mid charge. The green bald bull went rushing past us, its massive feet pounding against gravel, and rammed straight into the doors with a _CRASH!_

My prediction was correct! The doors rattled a bit at the impact, but stayed standing none the less. The thing stumbled about in a daze, and I took the opening.

I stabbed the creature in back, right where it's spine jutted out over and over again. The green beast trumpeted in agony as it's spinal column was severed and it tumbled the ground. The earth shook under it's dead weight. The thing huffed and snorted, obviously alive, just paralyzed. I walked up to it, staring into it's luminescent eyes.

So this the full extent of the Green Flu?

Warping the human form until it's barley recognizable?

Courtney clung shakily to my leg, watching the thing snort weakly. Even when it was all but defenseless…it still refused to give up, refused to show it's weakness. It tried to get up, tried to scare us into the panicked state we were in moments before.

And failed.

As it rolled onto it's back my hazelnut eyes widened in absolute shock.

I just realized the number on it's uniform was twenty-three, and the team name was the Kings.

The football team of Kingston High School.

My High school.

Which meant that this thing was…Jacob Norris, the team's second in command.

He and I never really said much to one another. We didn't like each other, but at the same time we weren't at each other's throats. We held a conversation here and there but that's it.

But that's not the point.

The point is that this thing, this Charger was someone that I once knew. Someone that I saw as your average jock. This Green Flu actually freaken mutated this guy into this towering effing concussive wall of brute force?

"Sol…he's wearing-"

My eyes pierced Courtney's own, causing her to cut off her sentence and avert her gaze. I sighed. "Yeah, I know."

"Then he…"

"Yeah."

As I looked into the bulls-…no, Jacob's eyes I could see him pleading for death. Which shocked the hell out of me. How could this towering behemoth be pleading for it's own death? I had believed that any Infected I would encounter would be the same as my mother. I expected their eyes to be like looking into an empty room…but no. Jacob was actually sentient, he had a mind of his own. Jacob was once a blessed kid. He had a girlfriend, a stable family, he got good grades in school. And now this damned Green Flu shit messed all that up. The Infection has transformed him into something unspeakable and his loved ones were most likely dead, or Infected.

But if he was sentient then why did he not remember me? Remember his humanity? Did it really take him nearly being killed to jostle his effing memory?

"Is this what you really want?" I whispered.

Courtney looked at me weirdly, but I ignored her. Jacob snorted and nodded his head _barely._

I sighed, walked up to him and kneeled before him. I leaned my head towards his twisted ear and whispered. "I'm sorry." I slit his throat with my blade, took Court's hand in my own and didn't look back as he bled out on the forest floor.

I couldn't. His body was twisted and malformed but his mind was human, he was freaken alive. He wasn't a shell, he was effing alive.

Jacob wasn't like my mother….

He was special.

I slammed the thick iron doors of the warehouse shut, put on the latch, and sank to the ground with Courtney in my lap. I was freaking tired as hell, but we couldn't afford to take a rest. My eyes scanned the area, spotting a slouched form in the corner.

It looked like a man. I sat Courtney beside me, whispering for her to stay put, and inched forward, clutching my katana with both hands.

"Uh, Sir?"

No answer.

"Sir, Are you alright?"

Again, no answer.

I walked up to the still man, kneeled, and cautiously lifted his head up. I scrambled backwards and yelled at the sight of his twisted visage. His face was half decomposed, his mouth was wrenched open in an eternal scream, his eyes had withered away in the sockets, and his nose wasn't even effing there anymore.

"Sol," Courtney call out. "Is he…"

I sighed. "He's dead…looks like he was a soldier." My eyes were immediately drawn to the Sniper Rifle he clutched firmly in his hands. It looked to be in good condition. I pried the weapon from his stiffened grasp and examined it. I didn't see a bolt on the thing, which meant that the gun had to at least be semi automatic. My father had taught me a thing or two about guns before he…you know.

Anyway, this thing was gonna need ammo. I gazed at the ammo belts and weapon holster that the man wore and smiled weakly.

"Sorry dude, but I need this stuff more than you do at the moment." As I pilfered the corpse, Courtney made a disapproving sound.

"Sol, don't you have any respect for the dead?"

As I began attaching the ammo belts to my person, I gave Courtney a playful look.

"Do you really want me to answer that truthfully?"

"Solana!"

"Look Courtney, if we don't get to that chopper, we're gonna end up like our pal Dead Head Fred over here." I jerked a thumb towards the corpse. "He's dead. He's not gonna miss his things." Which consisted of ammo belts (complete with ammo), a weapon holster, a first aid kit, a shot of adrenaline and even a Molotov cocktail!

Courtney crossed her arms and averted her gaze to the ground.

"Well…I don't like it." She muttered.

I sighed. "To tell you the truth…I don't like it either. This entire situation is completely effed up. But you know what? Life is effed up, Courtney." I tossed Courtney a belt that was holstering ammo and a Magnum. Her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and she gave me an accusing glare.

"SOL! What are you crazy! I can't use a gun, I'm a-"

"Courtney," I began. "I don't want you going anywhere without protection and if that means you have to learn how to use a gun then so be it."

Her eyes were wide and blue, she looked as if she were a deer in headlights. I kneeled and gently embraced her.

"Courtney," I said. "I'm going to teach you how to defend yourself so that if you ever find yourself in a situation where I'm not there, you can kick ass like I do!"

Courtney smiled weakly but nodded none the less. I spent fifteen minutes showing her how to expel the magazine from the magnum, showing her how to snap one back in, how to hold, aim, and shoot it. She couldn't really practice firing it in this enclosed space but then again I didn't really expect her to have to use it anytime soon. I just wanted to get her warmed up to the idea. This world had suddenly become EXTREMELY effing dangerous and she was gonna need as many skills as possible.

Before we traveled on, I opened both of us up each a bottle of water. We downed them and saved the bottles encase we found more life giving liquid later. I took the latch off the door at the far end of the room and creaked it open slowly. I nudged the rest of the door open with the barrel of my Sniper Rifle and switched on the weapon's flashlight.

"Courtney, stay right behind me, don't wander off."

"You don't have to worry about that, Sol."

We shuffled into the hallway, setting off into the belly of the effing demon.

The building was quiet as a graveyard and as cold as an effing freezer. I hate the effing cold. I know what you're thinking, someone who wears black all the time should hate the heat even more, but I don't. The heat never bothered me that much, can't explain it, but the cold just gets on my last nerves. When it gets cold enough, it feels like your skin is being pricked by a thousand tiny needles and…ugh! I effing hate that shit!

We moved slowly down a narrow corridor, which had six doors lining each side. I made sure to stay as quiet as possible. If there were Infected in here, I didn't need them knowing where we were. As we rounded a right corner I stopped dead in my tracks.

There were dozens of them.

Dozens of Infected.

A dozen pale faced people, moaning and groaning as they stumbled through the rusted corridors. They clutched at their heads, puked up blood, and leaned on the walls for support. It seems that even in this stage, their immune systems are still trying to fight the Green Flu.

But Jacob didn't seem sick at all… Does that mean that the Specials are peoples who's bodies have completely succumbed to the Infection? People's who's bodies can actually handle the virus's true intentions? I stored this at the back of my head as the closest Infected, a teen girl wearing a jean skirt, took an uncertain step toward us. She squinted her dead white eyes as if analyzing my features, as if trying to figure out if I was infected or not. She then opened her mouth and for a moment I thought I saw her grin. But that grin stretched until it became an enraged snarl. With a scream like some demon she ran straight at me.

Once she had probably been someone's girlfriend, someone's daughter or sister. But now…the Infection has transformed her into something horrifying, something unspeakable. I didn't know who she was or how she had succumbed to the Green Flu. Did she contract it from a loved one? Was she bitten? All I knew was that the Green Flu has left her a mere shell. The girl that once inhabited the body was dead, only a savage animal remained. A wolf in human's clothing. She lunged at me, running on pale legs marked with varicose veins, closing the distance in Ed Hardy sneakers.

I shot her through the face without hesitation.

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><p><em><strong>AN: I know I said that Bachelor 1 would be featured in this chapter but I'm trying to keep each entry 3000 to 3600 words long and this chapter was getting pretty lengthy. I'll make it up to you guys with a quick update! He'll be featured in the next chapter without a doubt! Until then…don't be mad at me!<strong>_


	4. Chapter 4

_**An: Hah, hah! Here is the next chapter, featuring my all time favorite Infected! I'll be adding a little more humor to the story, just to get it moving because…well, I'm sorry but I like to laugh! It won't be wacky funny, its…well, the best I can explain it is Left 4 Dead funny. I just love the funny crap all the survivors say and I realized this story was missing that. I hate being serious all the time. I'll try to blend the humorous with the serious from now on. And thank you, Rockubyebaby for the O.C! I couldn't have asked for a better character, she'll definitely be making an appearance soon as one of the major survivors! And KuroIchi30866, the Zombies you are talking about, the ones from Killing Floor, will have to be modified to fit into the story (Infected can't really use weapons) but I think I can add them in. **_

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><p><strong>Chapter IV: Tongue Tied <strong>

As the girl's head exploded in a shower of gooey brain matter and her headless body slumped lifelessly to the floor, the dozen or so Infected slowly turned to face us, their eyes squinting and their faces' contorting into scowls. Some of them stumbled onto all fours, as if they were some rapid jungle beasts. They all crept closer with their awkward gaits.

Behind a twenty something year old red headed woman who was stalking forward on her hands and feet, was a boy that could have been no older than Courtney; and next to him was a teen girl in a two piece bathing suit. There were people in business suits and shorts and jeans, and I caught the flash of a uniform and saw a police officer.

"There's so many of them." Courtney whispered in horrified awe. The Infected were getting closer, and I could tell by their body language that they were just itching to tear us apart. My finger stayed on the trigger of my rifle, sweat was beading down my face, and I licked my black lips.

"Courtney, I want you to watch my back." I whispered calmly.

"But Solana-"

"No buts." I said curtly. "This can mean life or death." I glanced over my shoulder into her frightened blue eyes. "You don't have to shoot but I do want you to scream if you see anything coming up behind us."

Courtney nodded shakily, her blonde hair flowing with the motion, as I took another step forward. That's all it took to set the Infected over the edge.

"Stick close Court."

I shot the red headed woman who galloped towards me on all fours, blowing her right arm off then showering her brains on the cement. I popped one in the bikini wearing girl next. Her chest exploded outwards in a geyser of blood, her rib cage shattered and the internal workings of her body bared. The bullet I used to kill her also hit the police man who was behind her. His intestines were spilled onto the floor, steaming, and he collapsed with a gurgled groan.

I hesitated as the little boy came rushing at me, shrieking bloody murder. He was just a kid, a ten year old kid. If I killed this boy, what did that make me? Did it make me even more of a monster than I already was?

I think it did.

I had already killed my mother and Jacob. The body count was never going to cease.

I shot the boy in his right knee, his leg exploding and bringing him to the ground. I pulled the trigger of my rifle again and again and again. Body parts were severed, heads exploded, it was an effing slaughter house. My gun suddenly clicked, signaling that I had went dry.

I quickly searched for more ammo on my person, but the Infected weren't about to effing let up. A blonde woman in a sundress decked me out on the floor, causing Courtney to scream and fall on her behind. She was on top of me within an instant, her mandibles working to get a hold of my pale neck. I quickly positioned a hand under her chin and just above her temple. I twisted her head until I heard a snap and kicked her body away.

I saw the pale veiny legs of the Infected Horde crowding around me, and they were WAY to close. I shot out a leg, sweeping the feet of the Infected who were closest to me right from under them and drew my blade while rising, slicing an arm off with the motion. I screamed and yelled as I swung the blade back and forth, carving a path of arms and legs and intestines. My face was stained with Infected blood, and my eyes were wild.

I threw my sword right through the chest of a man wearing a baseball cap and pounced onto a T-shirt wearing teenage boy. I slammed my fists into his face over and over again until it was nothing but a bloody mass of bone and pummeled flesh.

"SOL!"

I slammed my fist into his face one more time and breathed heavily. I was panting from exhaustion, but when I realized what I had just done, I scrambled off the body.

Did I really have to kill him so brutally? A bullet to the head or stab to the heart would have sufficed. I knew I had anger problems but…

"I-I…Courtney, lets get out of here."

Courtney gave me a look, but nodded. She knew I had anger issues. She knew the more stressed I was the more likely I was to go off. I didn't think it would manifest itself in the form of raw violence though. I normally just told people off. I walked over to Courtney and began to check her for any wounds.

"Court, were you hurt?"

Courtney shook her head, her blonde hair swaying. "Nope, I should be asking you that!"

I tilted my head to the side, confused. "All this effing blood ain't mine." I said, pointing to my crimson stained face. Courtney rolled her eyes and fished out a handkerchief from her pocket. She wiped my face off as best she could, causing me to laugh. She acted like a mother. In a situation like this, most wouldn't really care about how they looked but not Courtney.

"What's so funny?" She called out. "You at least want to look presentable for the people who are going to get us out of here."

I scoffed as she pulled away and I went to retrieve my katana. "If they had dropped down and picked us up from our house then maybe I wouldn't have to worry about looking 'presentable'." I quoted with my fingers, yanking the blade from the Infected man's chest. I reloaded my Sniper Rifle and signaled Courtney to follow.

"What section of the Golden Lioness Park are we going to end up in when we get out of here?" Courtney whispered to me. I sighed, preparing for the freak out that was about to undeniably take place. I turned to face her, my hazel eyes steady and my blackened lips pressed into a thin line.

"Courtney…you know that cave you were talking about earlier?" I calmly asked her. She cocked her head to the side in confusion but nodded.

"We're in it. This warehouse goes on for about a mile. I found it one day when the roads were backed up with traffic. It's been abandoned for years-"

"AHHHH-Mmfhgh!" I hastily slapped a hand over her mouth before she alerted every Infected in the freaken place to our location.

"Courtney, calm the eff down! The only monsters in here are the Infected, and I can take care of their asses easily-OW!" I yelped when Courtney bit my finger and scrambled away from me. Her blue eyes wide with shock and fear. "Hey! What was that for ya little twerp!"

"None of these things are the monster I was talking about, dumby! The thing we saw that one day had one glowing orange eye and it made this disgusting hacking sound and made this huge cloud of smoke come rushing out of the cave…." She had averted her gaze to the ground, and her arms were crossed defiantly. Her bottom lip was poked out and…aw, she looked so cute. I blew a strand of my dyed raven hair from my vision and kneeled to her level. I hugged and whispered encouraging words into her ear.

"Listen Courtney, we don't have time for this. We have to get out of here…, but if I see this…Smoke Monster…I'll shoot him dead." I was serious, this thing could be an Infected that's been snatching up people from their houses just to make more Infected. My little theory did make sense. Courtney nodded her head and with that, we traveled on. The Infected were a strange bunch, their seemed to be variations of the typical Infected. Some of them only took one shot to kill, others more. Some could survive without limbs, others could not. Some of them sprinted on all fours like attack dogs, others rushed towards me on their own two legs. Some of them could even survive without their effing freaken heads.

That thoroughly scared the shit out of me and I proceeded to stab them to death twenty times over.

"That was some messed up shit back there. What kind of effing virus lets people survive without their effing heads!" I yelled out, as I shot a bald man running at me on all fours, his skull exploding blood all over the place.

But he didn't stop.

He continued to gallop towards me, his neck gushing blood like a water fall. My eyes bugged out, still shocked that he was moving even though I had already witnessed some of them live without their heads moments before.

"AHHHHHH, DIE MOTHER EFFER, DIE!" I shot at his still moving body until it stumbled to the ground.

And I still continued to shoot it. I pulled the trigger of my semi-automatic Sniper Rifle over and over again, the gun roared as frighteningly as any big cat.

"SOL! SOL IT'S DEAD!" Courtney yelled out, tugging at my pant leg. I breathed in and out heavily, my eyes still bug eyed. I looked down to Courtney who was staring at me with worried, sapphire eyes.

"Sol, are you alright?" She asked innocently.

"Uh…Yeah…I'm alright. It's dead…. Right…, right, it's dead." I said, calming down. I swept a bead of sweat from my brow.

"We need to leave this place…like, now." I said while leading Courtney deeper into the warehouse. I had memorized this abandoned old place inside and out, it became sort of like a hang out for me and my friends.

"Loading room 2B…Courtney, we're almost there." I whispered as we proceeded to the next doorway, hoping to God that there was nothing waiting for us on the other end.

"Lets get the hell out of-AHHHHHHHH!"

I was tugged off my feet, my back crunching against cold hard cement floors. I scrambled to get a hold of my katana but my hands and arms were suddenly pulled tightly against my body by some ropey…slimy…. What the hell was this thing?

"Courtney…(_Gasp)… _run!" I screamed out. My lungs were being constricted, my breath stolen away from me.

But Courtney just stood there, petrified, rooted to one place. Her cerulean eyes wide with horrifying unbelievable fear. Her mouth was completely agape in unvoiced terror. I glared at her with squinted hazel eyes, my black stained mouth opening for yet another yell, but the ropey slimy appendage suddenly tightened, and my yell died in my throat.

I was yanked through the doorway, my back scrapping against concrete. Oh God, where the eff was this thing taking me? Was it another Special? Was it going to eat me? I kicked and struggled but the thing just tightened it's grip. I was tugged and dragged through the warehouse for who knows how long. The tugging suddenly stopped, but the slimy ropey thing was still wrapped tightly around my body. I stared through my raven died bangs, desperately searching for the thing that had me at it's mercy but it was to dark. I couldn't see shit.

More importantly, I searched for Courtney. I hoped she had ran and hid from the Infected. I was getting the hell out of this and I was gonna murder this thing.

'_I coming for you Courtney.'_

I felt something slick and wet glide across my cheek suddenly, like a dog's wet kisses. I blanched in disgust but a rough, calloused hand suddenly grabbed my face and held it steady.

Now that my eyes had adjusted to the darkness, I blinked at the thing that hovered mere inches from my face.

It looked like a long slimy…tongue?

What the eff?

The thing wrapped itself around my throat and squeezed lightly. I knew it could constrict much harder than that, It could probably snap my neck in ten seconds flat. My hazel eyes narrowed when I realized what it was doing. This thing was toying with me. It was playing with me in the same way a cat does a mouse. I kicked and struggled, but then suddenly felt the long sharp claws that tipped the calloused hands, brush a strand of my raven dyed hair from my eyes. It gently rubbed the side of my face, okay what the hell was going on? The thing's tongue suddenly turned me around and my eyes widened at the sight of the six foot tall Infected towering over me.

I couldn't really tell much because of the low light, but the one fiery glowing right eye DID stick out. It let out a garbled cough, expelling a thick yet…surprisingly sweet smelling smoke into the air. My eyes fluttered at the scent and I took a big whiff then exhaled. I could see a bunch of lumps clustered on the left side of the Infected's face that trailed all the way down it's left arm, which were probably tumors.

Yeah, this thing was definitely a Special Infected.

It was all tall and lanky. I yelped when it picked me up in it's skinny yet strong arms, being careful not to stab me with it's claws. It's tongue freed itself from my body, and levitated in front of me like it had a mind of it's own. I considered pulling my katana out and decapitating the things' head, but…

I looked into it's one, glowing orangey eye.

I…couldn't really tell what I found there. His eye wasn't dead like the other Infected, it kind of reminded me of Jacob's eyes just before I killed him. He snuggled me up to his bloodstained T-Shirt as if trying to keep me warm. I tried pushing away, but he wouldn't have any of that. He cradled me firmly yet gently, as if I was a struggling infant. After a minute of struggling, I gave up and let me senses succumb to the sweet smelling smoke that he emitted with each breath. It was like a sweet, tangy second hand smoke.

He gently raked his tumorless right hand through my shoulder length hair, it was so…, I can't believe I'm saying this, NICE.

Why wasn't he killing me? Why wasn't he trying to constrict me with his freakishly long tongue? And why wasn't I trying to shoot his effing brains out? I looked up into his glowing orange eye, my own hazel eyes brimming with so many questions.

"I…I need to get to my Sister, y-you pulled me away from her a-and now s-she's all alone. T-the Infected will tear her apart if they find her." I don't know why I was stuttering, or even talking to the thing for that matter. After all the mutation and shit, could he even freaken understand what I was saying anymore?

"I need to get her out of here, I need to leave."

I coughed and sputtered when the sweet smelling smoke suddenly turned rancid. The tall lanky Infected's orange eye had narrowed and looked as if it turned a burning shade of red.

'_Oh shit.' _I thought, just as it's tongue wrapped lightly around my throat. It's hellish burning red eye seemed to be…pleading? But for what? It's tongue tightened the grip on my throat, and I knew right then and there that I had to think of something quick before it decided to break my neck. My hazel eyes were wide with fear as I searched for a way to get out of this situation.

"Um…c-could y-you s-show m-me the way?" I asked, in a uncharacteristic squeak. "Y-you c-can c-come w-with m-me if y-you do!" Why would this thing want to go anywhere with me, what sane creature would? This thing was gonna kill me if I didn't-

Suddenly, the rancid smoke cloud turned back to it's sweet flavor, and the hellish, burning red eye of the Smoker turned back to a fiery orange. It nodded it's head feverishly, picked me up from under my arms, and placed me on the ground.

It took my hand gently in it's own and together we disappeared in a shroud of greenish black smoke.

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><p><em><strong>AN: One of the smoker's cut abilities was the ability to teleport into a group of survivors, grab one, and teleport that survivor far away from the group. So, I decided to give this powerful Smoker that ability. I don't know if this chapter was really good or not so…yeah….<strong>_


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter V: Typhus **

I blinked and there we stood, in the huge refrigerated storage area of the warehouse, surrounded by towering storage racks. God it was effing cold as shit; I always hated going through here. I gave my unlikely ally a glance. The Smoker turned his head upward and flared his nostrils, his signature smoke carried off by the freezing cold breeze. He was tracking Courtney by her scent? Was this how the Infected found their prey? It was so…primal.

And how was it possible for him to effing teleport?

As he led me deeper into the cold storage facility, his tumorless right hand gently clutching my left one, I found that I just couldn't tear my eyes away from him. I wasn't afraid that he would turn on me (he was going out of his way to help me); I was just…fascinated by him. I know I should be scared, I know I should be disgusted, but I'm just not. As he guided me through the twists and turns of the storage aisles, my eyes memorized every single one of his features. Aside from the tumors, he had a couple of tongue like growths sprouting from his head and one growing from his left shoulder. He wore a black T-Shirt with the Midnight Riders logo printed onto it, dark blue jeans, and black sneakers with white stripes. I caught a shimmer and saw a necklace dangling from his neck, a cross to be exact. My eyes then focused on the tumors covering his left arm.

"Do they hurt?" I blurted out, which kind of surprised me. I was never really the caring type, the only people I ever showed any concern for was my mother and Courtney...and I think it's safe to say Mr. Harvey as well. So why did I suddenly care if this towering Infected was in pain? We just effing met and he's effing INFECTED for the love of God!

The Smoker stopped and looked at me with his one fiery orange eye (Again, I couldn't figure out what I saw there. Was it confusion? Was it loneliness? I couldn't figure him out).

He nodded his head, the tongue like growths sprouting from his skull swaying with the motion, and led me onward.

A frosty mist hung just above the floor, giving this decrepit old place a foreboding look. The storage racks were all rusted from neglect, and they groaned as a result of their withering structures. I saw a blur on my right and had my Sniper Rifle loaded and aimed within an instant. I saw it jump into a ceiling vent, the sound of banging and general ruckus meeting my ears. I backed myself up against a storage rack and inched my way towards the end of the aisle, my Rifle trained on the vent.

What the effing hell was that?

"You have any idea what that was?" I asked the Smoker in a whisper. He nodded his head and pointed to himself as he quickly led me further into the facility, his eyes darting to numerous vents.

"It's something like you?" I asked with an arched eyebrow.

He nodded.

"Damn it. Well…anyway, while we're talking, I can't just keep referring to you as 'hey you' or 'Smoker' now can I?" I asked with a toothy grin. He gave me a very surprised look.

"Hmm…how about I call you, Typhus, Ty for short. I think it's the Greek word for smoke?" I asked him. I got a very big whiff of sweet smelling smoke, which made my eyes flutter, and he nodded his head enthusiastically.

"Typhus it is then." I breathed. I heard something banging through the vents in the ceiling and immediately aimed my rifle upwards.

"Ty, I have to find Courtney and fast. There's an evacuation going on at the Golden Lioness Park and unless we get there in time, we're going to be stranded here." I gazed up at Ty's fiery eye. "I know you want me to stay Ty, but I have to think about Courtney first. And…and I don't want you getting shot. The moment someone see's you, they'll open fire without a second thought."

Ty averted his gaze to the ground, his smoke smelled…neutral, like he was thinking.

"Ty," I began. "Please, don't be mad at me."

Ty could kill me in seconds if he wanted to, and judging by the way he acted before, he had bit of an anger management problem, like yours truly. I stared at him with large, expecting eyes. My body was tensed, ready for the ropey tongue that would no doubt ensnare me.

A ropey slimy tongue did ensnare me alright.

But it wasn't Ty's.

I screamed as I was tugged off my feet and suspended in mid-air. My arms were pulled tightly against my sides and my ribs were slowly being crushed.

"T-Ty!"

I watched at Ty's orange eye turned a hellish red. I watched as his body disappeared in a shroud of shadowy black smoke. The tongue wrapped around my body went slack as I heard the sound of claws tearing into soft flesh. I fell onto my behind with a curse, and quickly got to my feet. Ty appeared before me in a flash of blackish green smoke, clutching a dead Smoker tightly in his right hand by the throat. I was still breathing heavily.

"You did that?" I asked dumbly, pointing to the corpse. He nodded his head and threw the dead Smoker at my feet.

Now, any normal girl probably would have screamed their heads off or puked, but I'm not any normal girl. I gave him a big grin and surprised myself by giving him a hug.

"You keep doing that," I whispered. "And you might have yourself a girlfriend."

What scared me though, was that I was dead serious.

I wasn't, as some might say, the most sought after girl in town so having someone actually want to be with me (no matter how mutated they are) was kind of awesome. Some might call it desperate, but since when did I care about what other people thought of me? Ty all but dragged me the rest of the way. I could hear the wheezing coughs and hacks of another Smoker and the freaking garbled barks of a mother effing Charger.

Freaken damn it!

A maniacal laughter soon met my ears and I was immediately reminded of the wicked little bastard that steered that guy in front of my car.

"Shit, is every mutated freak I've encountered up until this point here! Um…not including you, Ty!" I added on quickly. With a swipe of his left hand, Ty completely ripped the door in our path to shreds. Sitting in the middle of the office with her legs pulled to her chest, was a blonde haired little girl with a Magnum clutched tightly in her hands, her eyes wide with fear.

"Courtney!" I yelled.

I heard her breath hitch.

"SOL!" She rushed me, locking my waist into a vice grip. She cried and wailed into my shirt, speaking incoherently.

The corpse with a missing head on the other side of the room did not escape my eyes. I sighed to myself. I was hoping Courtney wouldn't have to kill for herself any time soon, but I guess there was no time like the present.

The sounds of the Smoker, Charger, and the wicked little thing were getting closer.

"Courtney, we can't stay here. Listen to me." I tilted her chin upwards so that our eyes met.

"You see this man right here." I pointed to Typhus, which made her eyes go wide with fear.

"No Courtney, he won't hurt you. He helped me find you. He snatched me up because…he just wanted someone to spend time with." I said. "He was lonely."

Courtney still gazed at Ty with distrust but she nodded her head.

"Courtney, you know that charging thing and that wicked little goblin we've seen before?"

Court nodded.

"They're out there; there's even one that looks like Ty waiting out there. I saw what you did." My eyes flickered to the corpse on the other side of the room. She must have noticed for she turned her gaze to ground in shame.

"No Courtney, what you did…was a good thing. He would have killed you if you didn't get him first and now, I need your help more than ever." I picked up the Magnum she dropped and put it in her hands.

"I need your help Courtney. Can you do what you just did again?"

A few seconds passed, but Court eventually nodded. I knew it was horrible of me to ask a child to help me kill, but I don't think me and Ty could take on those three monsters out there by ourselves.

"Okay, let's go."

Courtney grabbed at the sleeve of my leather jacket before I could take another step and tugged me towards a metal door. I shrugged and opened it up to find a heaping load of supplies. It was a …supply closet? We found loads of guns, food, and clothing suitable for trekking through dangerous environments. My face split into a smile.

"Jack pot."

I quickly shut the stainless steel door behind us and began rummaging through the supplies. The first thing that concerned me was food and water, so I quickly grabbed a couple of bottles of water out of a crate, as well as some junk food. I shoved them into my pack with fever.

Next was weapons.

My Sniper Rifle has done me well so far, but I don't think it's a good choice of weapon when going up against something that could literally close the distance between you and it within seconds. I need a close to mid range weapon. I walked up to the weapon wrack that held an AK-47, an M-16, and a Spas-12 Combat shotgun.

I immediately ruled out the shotgun, I don't ever want to get that close to a freaken Charger. So now it was between the Ak-47 and the M-16. I raised my right hand to my chin in thought. The AK-47 has a smaller magazine size, a slower rate of fire, and poorer accuracy than the M-16 but has greater stopping power. But I'll need that accuracy if I want to hit a Smoker in the distance, so I'm going with the M-16. As I laid the rifle on the ground, Courtney tugged my pant leg. I looked to her with a raised eyebrow.

"Can…can I try the Sniper Rifle?"

My eyebrows shot up. "Courtney, can you even hold the thing up?"

She poked out her lower lip and crossed her arms. I sighed as I gave her the Sniper Rifle, and was surprised to see that she could hold the weapon with no problems at all.

"Sol, I did archery last year and was the best out every kid in the school, even the guys. I…think I can do this. I do want to help you Sol, and even though I'm not really keen on letting the monster follow us around, if he's not gonna hurt us than I don't care."

I smiled slightly.

"Thanks Court."

She gave me grin and went back to memorizing the parts of her new Sniper Rifle.

I began searching through the clothes wrack for stuff me and Courtney could wear. I pulled out two pairs of knee pads, two pairs of elbow pads, two helmets, and two hooded sweatshirts, one black and one pink. I had a feeling we were going to be outside a lot. I also pulled out two pairs of black steel tipped combat boots and a pair of black skin tight pants and tan shorts made of a thick material. I quickly got dressed, choosing the black hoodie (big surprise) and slipping into the skin tight pants. I strapped on the knee and elbow pads, as well as my cowboy like ammo belts, and shoved my feet into the steel tip boots. The last act was strapping my katana to my side. I could feel Ty staring at me as I got dressed but I didn't really care.

Let him watch. Besides, it made me feel pretty!

I picked up the army style helmet, studied it, and threw it over my shoulder.

I hate helmets.

"Come here Courtney, we were definitely not dressed for this type of thing."

I took Courtney behind a bookshelf and got her dressed in a similar outfit, except…well, smaller, pink and she wore tan shorts which showed off her knee high blue and pink striped socks.

"Hey!" She yelled indignantly as I shoved a helmet atop her head, her pony tail poking out the back cutely.

"You're not going out there without a helmet."

"You're not wearing a helmet!" She yelled, pointing an accusing finger at me.

"I'm bigger than you. Now, let's go, we've stalled the inevitable to long already."

I took a deep breath, exhaled, and kicked the metal door outwards. As the door crashed into the wall behind it, I raised my M-16, aiming down the barrel. The incoherent noises of the specials were so close…

Courtney stood to my left, her Sniper Rifle raised and Ty was to my right, ready to shoot his tongue out at a moment's notice. Storage racks stood on either side of us, boxing us in an aisle….wait a minute…

"Aw shit!" I yelled out.

A trumpeting below echoed through the room as the towering bulk of a Charger appeared at the end of the aisle. He barked as he sent himself barreling at us.

"Shit, press yourselves against the racks!" I yelled. Ty suddenly shot his tongue out like a lasso, wrapping it around the Charger's legs and tripping the behemoth. A the mammoth sized Infected slammed face first into the ground; I threw Ty a grin over my shoulder.

"Or you could do that."

I emptied a clip into the fallen behemoth as we quickly made our way out of the aisle, still very aware of the other two specials in the area.

"AH, SOL!"

An anaconda like tongue shot out from atop the racks and ensnared Court in a vice grip, choking the life out of her tiny lungs.

"Oh hell NO!" I unsheathed my katana and filleted the snake like appendage. Her arms now free, Courtney turned around, aimed, and fired a shot dead center of the Smoker's forehead. The Smoker released a cloud of smoke into the air as its body fell off the rack and slammed into the concrete floors. I looked at Courtney with wide eyes.

"Courtney…that was amazing!"

"I know, right!" She said with a toothy grin.

We were almost there; we had the exit in our sights.

Then that wicked little thing came leaping out of the shadows, howling with laughter. The thing had a large amount of muscle mass on its upper back and neck, giving it a sort of hunched look. Its fingers and toes were extremely long and its lips, and the skin around them, were all but gone. It wore a tattered white T-shirt and blue boxers which just looked effing creepy as shit. The freaky little thing latched itself onto Ty's back, pulling at his arms and clawing at his face, giggling in delight as it did so.

"Oh no you don't, you effing little shit!" I slammed the hilt of my katana into the things head, knocking it to the ground where I proceeded to stab it over and over again.

The thing effing died laughing.

Wiping a bead of sweat from my face, I turned to Ty in concern.

"Ty are you okay?"

Ty rubbed his face but nodded. I turned to Courtney.

"How about you?"

She grinned at me and gave did a salute.

"Okay then, onward I guess."

I shoved the door leading out of the warehouse wide open, aiming down the barrel of my M-16. My flashlight cut through the darkness, lighting up the shadowy cave. I did a quick sweep of the area.

It was clear…or so I thought. Just as we made it to the mouth of the cave, I heard a deep rumbling growl. But it was already too late. A shadowy blur leapt from the darkness, knocking me onto the ground and pouncing upon Courtney, causing her to scream.

It resembled a man in a tattered blue hoodie, but I knew better. I didn't have time to memorize anything else but that. I could see blood fly through the air as its claws tore into Courtney's side. Her tiny voice screamed and pleaded for help.

"NO!"

I made a move to slam the butt of my rifle into the side of its head, but it performed a combat roll off my wounded sister. It was crouched, growling and hungry.

And I was his next target.

He flew at me with blinding speed, knocking me to the ground. He opened his mouth, showing the world his wickedly long fangs, and bent his head down in a attempt to rip my throat out.

Just as I thought I would feel the jaws of death clamp tightly around my neck, I heard a whimper similar to that of a dogs and the deadly predator's weight was lifted from me. My eyes snapped open and I was greeted to the sight of a 100 foot long tongue wrapped tightly around the predator's body. I trailed it back to Ty, whose eyes were burning a hellish shade of red. He put the squeeze on the Hunter until we all heard an audible crack. He threw the predator's body aside and ran up to me.

I pushed myself up and quickly dashed towards Courtney, who was curled up into a ball and crying her eyes out no doubt from the pain. Blood was gushing from her side like a breached dam.

Effing Damn it!

OOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOO

_**AN: Next chapter, the other survivors Solana will be traveling with will be introduced. If any of you want your O.C to appear in the story as one of the main survivors, now is your last chance!**_


	6. Chapter 6

_**AN: I put my all into making all of the characters, as well as Sol, seem really believable. To tell you the truth, I was disappointed in the past chapters. I want this story to be as believable as possible, I mean O.C stories kind of have to be if they want to get a lot of feedback. So, here is the next chapter. Note, even if your O.C is not featured in this chapter, he or she WILL without a doubt appear in the story so don't panic! **_

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><p><strong>Chapter VI: 2 Weeks L8ter <strong>

The path was paved with blood and guts, maggots feasting on the carcasses of the dead. Lamp posts flickered, threatening to cast the already dimly lit trail into endless darkness. Screams of the dying echoed through the stale, putrid air along with the howls of the victims of humanity's foulest blight.

The once proud city of Lioness lay in ruins, overrun by creatures so devilishly wicked that they should be considered the incarnation of sin itself. The flickering lights barely illuminated my pale fleshed face as I dashed onwards towards my only hope.

Our only hope.

The bundle in my arms groaned a sickening groan of pain and anguish.

My sister.

Her flesh inhumanly pale from loss of the liquid that gives us all life. Liquid that was gushing and spewing from the four, twelve inch gashes in her left side. Her azure eyes were glazed over; dulled into a state of nothing.

She was slipping away.

"No!" I yelled out defiantly. She was in my arms, I held her tightly against me, yet she was slowly drifting away from me. My sister, my only baby sister. She didn't deserve this, I might have deserved it, but she didn't. She was innocent, clean, untouched by the darkness and cruelty of humanity. She was forced to kill, yes, but a child is a child. Staring into her dull, now pale blue eyes, I can still see the innocence. I can still see the child, begging and pleading for her big sister's approval, for her big sister's respect.

I can still see the child that forever wishes to be like her big sister.

Oh, Courtney, why would you want to be like me? Unlike her, I am far from pure. I am a symbol of humanity's darkest spawn.

I am draped in black; my lips stain an inky darkness. My lower lip is pierced with five small loop rings, all placed on the right side. Black jewels and hoops are stapled into both my ears, six on each side. A ruby rock is stabbed through the right side of my nose, and my barely shoulder length light blond hair is dyed pitch black, symbolizing the darkness that has taken root in my heart.

My right eye was obstructed by a shadowy bang. My eyes themselves…were a cold, steel auburn; the color of dried age old blood. My eyelids are rimmed with heavy black mascara… I am unclean, I am scarred. I have seen too much during my eighteen years of existence. But Courtney, she is pure; she doesn't deserve to die like this.

The calls of a dying cat met my ears, but I paid it no mind.

I ignored it. I ignored the festering, unrecognizable hunks of flesh on the trails, and sped onward, my heavy boots clunking against the brick road. I could feel Courtney's liquid life oozing between my fingers, staining my hands with the blood of true innocence. My breaths were quick and labored; my heart was threatening to burst through my ribcage.

And right then and there, I almost died.

A torrent of luminescent, noxious acid streamed forth from a nearby bush and seeped into the ground a mere five feet away from me. It was pooling, the asphalt sizzling in its wake, yet before I could sprint away from the acidy death trap, I was ensnared in thick ropey strands of sticky wire. The bushes and shrubs to my right rustled, and it was at that point that I realized that the howling gurgling cat like noise I was hearing was not a cat but the call of one of the blight's most dangerous victims.

She rose from her hiding place, and stalked forward; a towering hideous warped monstrosity. The woman this Infected was before was long gone; in her place was a monster of predatory instinct. Her mouth was stretched to its limits, revealing rotting dagger like teeth. Her neck seemed forcefully elongated, as to serve the Green Flu's corrupted purpose. Her belly was bloated and round, no doubt redesigned to create and store her acid payload. Her twisted face seemed to twitch, as if she was trying to smirk.

I held on to my sister, whom was still bleeding out in my arms.

"Typhus." I whispered. "Help me."

In a cloud of dark smoke and artificial wind, he appeared behind me, shredding the sticky wiry substance with a swipe of his claws.

I had told him to hide, told him to flee, encase we ran into people…but I knew he wouldn't listen.

And I was so effing relieved that he didn't.

He pulled me away from the acidy pool of death and shoved me behind his towering frame. With a loud hacking declaration of anger and irritation, Ty shot out his tongue like one would do a shotgun. It sped through the air, wrapping around the acid woman's long gangly neck. She gurgled and choked on her own acid spittle. She shrieked and flailed and struggled to escape from Ty's anaconda like appendage.

I was completely frozen, my knees shaking. Cold auburn eyes were wide with fear, the wetness between my fingers not helping matters at all. Courtney coughed, staining my ivory white face with blood. My eyes darted around the darkness enshrouded trail. If this woman was the one who sprayed the acid, then where is the one that ensnared me in its web? My head swiveled all which way, my eyes moving from one shadow to the next.

The sound of teeth clicking together met my ears, it was so quiet but it was there. A low, guttural hiss sounded through the rotting air and it was then I noticed the sound of tree branches creaking. My eyes darted from tree to tree; the Golden Lioness Park was literally a forest. My pupils dilated when I locked my gaze with burning crimson eyes.

They were slit, almost sensual.

The clouds darkening the night skies suddenly inched away from the magnificent sight of a full moon, it's eerie otherworldly glow shining down on the ruins of a once proud city. The park was bathed in the light of the glowing white sphere, and the figure crouching in the trees was fully revealed.

In my opinion, she was one of the most monstrous beings I have ever laid my eyes on. Flowing, crimson hair swayed slightly in a light breeze, full scarlet lips tugged upwards in a snarl, and ghostly pale flesh glowed in the eerie moon light. Her noticeably curvy figure was draped in a flowing black and crimson gown, the shredded dress barely concealing her sizable breast.

This woman must have been overwhelmingly beautiful when she was human; but as an Infected she had the exotic look of a stalking black widow. She was a monster hiding in the guise of a beautiful woman.

And as she took in a breath, I found myself turning to dash away.

Thick sticky strands of web captured my left leg; I hastily turned my body so that my back would crunch against the ground.

I couldn't afford for Courtney to get hurt again. If she died, I would most likely kill myself out of effing grief and guilt. The Black Widow let out a garbled shriek, standing to her full towering six foot height. With a flick of her wrist, she sent a strand of steely web soaring through the air, attaching it to the high branch of a tree just behind me.

My eyes widened in horror.

'_You can't be effing serious.'_

She leapt off her perch, soaring through the air like effing Spiderman, her razor pearly white teeth bared. I knew I could have killed her, but I couldn't leave Courtney alone not even for a second. So I curled up around my dying sister, shielding her from the scarlet three inch long claws digging into my back. The Black Widow hissed and screeched in delight as she tore into me, shredding my hoodie and ripping into my flesh. I screamed at the agonizing white hot pain, is this what Courtney felt as that Predator tore into her?

Suddenly, I heard the acid woman let out a dying screech as her elongated neck was snapped in two. Ty threw her body carelessly to the side with a flick of his tongue and rushed the Black Widow with his claws poised to strike. My vision was blurring, failing me…but, for some unknown reason I could feel everything Typhus was feeling.

I could feel the wind rushing through his short dark brown hair as he dashed towards the crazed woman whom was mauling me.

I could smell his putrid, rancid angry smoke.

I could feel his undying rage and hatred for the Black Widow.

I could feel his anticipation, the anticipation of the fresh kill.

The other Smokers were lumbering and clumsy, but Typhus was quick and agile. I could see, literally see his clawed hand whistling through the air in my mind's eye, his right eye burning a hellish crimson.

What the eff was going on?

The Black Widow was quick to react; she turned on a heel and shot a clawed hand out. Though Ty was fast, the Black Widow was faster. Her right clawed hand dug into the left side of his face and sent him tumbling to the ground. The Widow glanced at her fallen comrade, the acid woman. Her hellish eyes narrowed in boiling fury. She threw her head back and shrieked a sound full of rage and hatred. She threw herself on Ty, straddling his waist and slashing at his chest. Her claws were nowhere near as sharp or as strong as the blue hooded Predator's, but they were still claws.

Ty took in a deep breath and expelled a pressurized cloud of pitch black smoke, blowing the Black Widow a couple of feet into the air. Ty quickly got to his feet and snatched the spidery woman up in his one hundred foot long tongue before she could recover, and slammed her into the ground. Ty hacked angrily as he put the squeeze on the Widow, crushing her ribs and other eternal workings.

After a minute, the Widow let out a dying hiss and went slack in Ty's grip. He threw her corpse carelessly to the side and quickly sped to my aid. Ty embraced me in his arms, gently nudging me, trying to get me moving.

But I was too exhausted, physically and emotionally.

"T…Ty…" I breathed out. In response, his soothing sweet smelling smoke invaded my nostrils, and I let out a gentle sigh.

"I need to save h-her…." I whispered. I didn't know if he could understand me, but he suddenly scooped me up in his arms. I gripped my sister with all my strength, even when I slipped into unconsciousness I didn't let go.

'_What happened?'_

'_Where am I?'_

'_What is this place?'_

'_Courtney! Where is she?'_

'_Where is Ty?' _

My eye lids fluttered open, and I squinted at the presence of a glaring light. My head was laying on something soft and comfortable.

A pillow?

A thick blue comforter covered my pale form; keeping me warm and snug through the night no doubt. But…

"Where is Courtney?" I whispered to myself. And what is this place? I propped myself up on the bed and looked down at myself only to find that my hoodie and my black under shirt were gone. My black Victoria secret's bra and some bandages were the only things keeping me modest. My auburn eyes squinted in confusion, what the hell had happened?

'_I remember us trying to escape from the warehouse. I remember us killing the Bald Bull, the other Smoker, the Wicked Little Thing, and that effing Predator. He wounded Courtney, badly. Then there was that scuffle with the Acid Woman and the Black Widow.' _

What the eff happened after that?

"I see that you're up."

I was out of the bed with in the blink of an eye. I grabbed the man's right wrist and twisted his whole arm around his back. Adrenaline rushed through my blood stream as I shoved him against a wall, tugging his arm upwards. He struggled to escape my grip, but the more he struggled the further he put himself in my control.

"If you keep struggling, you're going to tear your own arm out of its socket." I said; my husky voice barely a whisper. My full black lips tugged into a viscous scowl.

"Now," I began. "Where the hell am I and where the eff is my sister?" I demanded. The man stopped his erratic movements, and struggled to look into my exposed left eye over his shoulder.

I noticed his eyes were a beautiful shade of blue.

"We found you outside our safe house." He stuttered. "You were all torn up and your sister was near death. I managed to patch her up and get her stabilized before she bled to death."

I blinked at that.

"Oh…." I released the man who let out a relieved sigh. I grinned sheepishly as he turned around, still rubbing his bruised arm. I expected him to be angry, but surprisingly he just grinned right back at me. The young man wore a blood stained white T-shirt, torn jeans, and heavy duty dog boots. His eyes were the most mesmerizing shade of blue I have ever seen and his onyx colored hair came down to his shoulders.

"I'm…sorry for that." I said. "I just wasn't expecting to see someone standing over me."

"No problem. I would kind of be freaked out to if I suddenly woke up in some strange place. My name is Devin, Devin Branson." His eyes suddenly drifted below my neck and his face flared a deep scarlet. He turned away quickly, his arms crossed.

"U-um…one of the girls might have a s-shirt y-you can wear."

I looked down at myself, but instead of covering my assets with my arms like most girls would, I grinned devilishly.

"What's the matter? You haven't seen jugs this big before?"

I know, I know, I'm mean, a tease, and a pervert, but I just couldn't help it! My boobs are so effing big. Even if I'm not wearing revealing clothing, men's eyes always drift below my neck.

Hey, hey, my face is up here!

I was thinking about getting breast reduction surgery but my mom….

You know what, eff it. Getting them downsized would be like cursing out God, and my Mother, for giving me a great gift…

Even if that gift does sometimes cause back problems.

"Ouch." I whispered, rubbing at the phantom pain. My back hasn't acted up in awhile and I'm hoping it stays that way.

"Does your back still hurt?" Devin asked, his sapphire eyes overflowing with worry. I grinned, shaking my head.

"Nah, I just remember that my back gets effed up sometimes on the account of me carrying these huge knockers around." I couldn't help it; I burst out laughing at Devin's big wide eyes and his crimson hued face.

"Uh…uh…"

"Hah!" I declared loudly, pointing a black nail with a skull painted on it at his flustered face. I sighed and calmed myself down. I haven't had a good laugh in awhile. It felt good.

"Sorry," I said, still chuckling. "I just couldn't help myself. Anyway, you said there were other girls?"

Devin recovered from his flustered state and nodded his head.

"Yeah: Indie, Charlie, Lana, and Red."

I smirked deviously at him. "Oh, so Devin is a ladies' man." I said, making my voice as husky as possible. "Tell me Devin, what kind of…'activities' do you guys partake in around here?"

Devin sputtered and struggled for a rebuttal, while I just threw my head back and laughed my ass off.

"Heh, heh, you are so EASY!"

"I know, right?"

My eyes traveled to the doorway, a short yet curvy girl draped in all black was leaning against its surface. Her smooth, caramel skin seem to glow in the light, her hair was a pitch raven black at the top, but dyed red all the way down towards the bottom. Her eyes were a cold burnished brown…kind of like my eyes. She wore thick shadowy mascara, a tight black leather jacket that was unbuttoned towards the top (showing off the goods), ripped skinny jeans, and black knee high Goth boots.

Her full pink lips tugged upwards into a smirk. "I guess I'm not the only one who likes messin with Devin."

I laughed. "That sounds like a pass time."

"It kind of is." She replied enthusiastically. "You should see his face when Charlie pounces him, classic!"

Devin sighed. "Red, you are so mean. You all are!"

The aptly named Red chuckled. "I remember one time Indie knocked him out with a frying pan and stuffed him into Lana's sleeping bag." She busted a gut. "You should have seen the looks on their faces when they woke up!"

I chuckled, but my face suddenly turned serious. "Devin's dignity aside, is my sister okay?"

The smile was wiped off of Red's face in an instant. "Yeah, Devin here is the medic of the team. He knows what he's doing, I can vouch for him."

"Where is she? I need to see her." I demanded. Devin raised an eyebrow.

"Shouldn't you put some clothes on first?" He asked; a little annoyed. I smiled a sickeningly sweet smile.

"What? You don't like the view?" I jumped up and down a bit, and I swore his eyes nearly fell out of his head. He yelled and covered his face with his hands.

"Damn you vile succubus!"

I smirked. "Why thank you."

"Devin, I am shocked!" Red stated playfully, placing a hand on her chest. "That is no way to talk to our guest!" She said, waving a finger.

Devin looked up towards the ceiling. "Why? Why have I been cursed with this burden? As if Tiara a.k.a Miss Red wasn't bad enough!"

I grinned wildly, I could get used to hanging out with these guys. But at that moment, my mission came surging back into my mind.

"Okay, enough play. If you are all wondering, my name is Solana Light. You can call me Sol. I was heading towards the Golden Lioness Park, you know for the evacuation?"

Devin and Red exchanged glances.

"Uh, yeah…" Devin began. "You do NOT want to go back over there."

I glared at him, my auburn eyes narrowed into slits. "And why not?"

"Because," Red looked straight into my eyes as she spoke. "That place is a death trap. Everyone within a fucking thirty mile radius had gone rushing to that park…and now every one of those people are Infected. To think that it only took two weeks for things to get this bad…"

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: I am sorry that I wasn't able to introduce all of the characters mentioned in this chapter but that gives you all a little something to look forward to next chapter. I hope I didn't disappoint the owners of the two that appeared in this chapter. I tried to add a little humor towards the end there. Note, even if your O.C is not part of the survivor team, he or she WILL appear later on in the story. I can't suddenly have like twenty people arrive within the story; I am sorry that is just WAY to much work. So thank you Rockubyebaby, Apocalypse Survivor, Annomanis 11111117, and Saxvalent-Plight of the Light for letting me use your awesome characters. Let me know how I've done because I have NEVER done this before.<strong>_


	7. Author's note

_**AN: I have officially hit WRITER'S BLOCK CENTRAL! I have no idea where I am going with this story but I am starting a newer, bigger, and all around better story that I actually had the decency to plan out this time. I'll be focusing on that. If any of you still want your characters to be used in a story and are still interested, I'd be glad to use them in the story. I'm kind of hopping you'll all say yes! The story at first revolves around a twenty four year old woman who is doing time for three accounts of murder in the Women's Correctional Center in Skowhegan, Maine. She and seven others will have to make their way from Maine all the way down to the Florida Keys. As with my other story, expect animal and children Infected to make appearances. **_


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